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Commemoratibe 



OF 



JOHN ANGIER SHAW. 



Stat sua aiique diet, breve et irrepa-rahile tempus 
Omnibus est vitce ; sed /amain exiendere factis, 
Hoc virtntis opus. Virgil. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS 



READ AT THE FUNERAL OF 



JOHN ANGIER SHAW, 



;n the meeting house of the 



|trst C0ngregitfiana,l Bmi^ m grftgclBatcr, 



October 8, 1S73. 



BY 



RICHARD M(>^ HODGES. ^=^3^^*^ 
I 1881 



WITH AN APPENDIX. 




CAMBRIDGE: y/fj 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
1874. 



r 



v-# 



FUNERAL ADDRESS, 



TN the circumstances under which we are 
now assembled, Christian friends, it is 
not in my heart to solicit your indulgence. 
Ah! it is not I who speak. It is God; it is 
Providence; it is the gentle Spirit of grace, 
— your own best affections, if you will but 
listen to their most tender accents, — each 
and all of them have a distinct and emphatic 
voice, here and now, in the presence of these 
emblems of death and the grave. 

" While Thee I seek, protecting Power, 
Be my vain wishes stilled ; 
And may this consecrated hour 
With better hopes be filled." 

It is no new occasion that excites our 



6 



deepest sympathies. Often have they been 
greatly moved before. Life is in the ap- 
pointment of God. Death is in the appoint- 
ment of God. The presence of a wise 
Providence is seen in them both. But in 
proportion to the purity and culture of our 
affections is the effect of them more or less 
forcibly felt by us. The blossom of infant 
life, that is just expanding and creating hopes 
of growth and maturity, gives to the mind 
and heart of a thoughtful and true parent 
emotions of a grateful nature, such as are 
only experienced by those who sustain a 
similar relationship. And when the grave 
is opened to receive the venerable form of 
one who was entitled to our love and rightly 
deserved our respect, it is impossible but 
that our sensibilities should be tenderly 
touched, for so we are graciously consti- 
tuted. Jesus, our great Exemplar, wept at 
the grave of Lazarus. Still, life and death 



are alike in charge and at the disposal of 
the Supreme Arbiter of all events. God 
is equally wise and good in giving and in 
taking away. He is unchangeable in all his 
attributes, and perfect in his administration. 
On this thought alone can the prayer of 
resignation rest, " Thy will be done." 

Sudden death, viewed in the light of di- 
vine Providence, is certainly not to be dep- 
recated. Death, when it cuts down in a 
moment the thoughtless, the worldl3^-minded, 
the undutiful child of mortality, may well, 
and does indeed, in accordance with the 
admonitions of both natural and revealed 
religion, excite emotions directly opposite 
to those that we experience at the unlooked- 
for departure of the true, the faithful, the 
God-loving, and the man-loving friend of 
our hearts and brother of our humanity. 

Were it to be left to our choice, however, 
— might we be permitted reverently to in- 



8 



dulge such a thought, — there are reasons, 
seemingly meeting with the sanction of our 
limited apprehension, which would cause us 
to prefer that a season of calm and submis- 
sive sensibility should be granted us previous 
to the moment of dissolution. How many 
the words of warning and of counsel, of en- 
couragement and of hope, that have pro- 
ceeded from the lips of dying loved ones, 
and which are treasured up in fond hearts! 
These precious words, it cannot be doubted, 
in the interposition of the Holy Spirit, are 
blessed to the elevation, the purification, the 
sanctification of many a soul in the kingdom 
of heaven. It is this experience in the dim 
light of the death-chamber that makes sacred 
the memory of many a Christian parent, and 
illumines recollections that might otherwise, 
in the weakness of human nature, be envel- 
oped in darkness, and attended with oppres- 
sive influences sadly impeding the onward 



and upward progress of life. The pictures 
and the sentiments that are engraven in de- 
vout minds of the repose and hope and joy 
of those w^ho, in the Spirit of Jesus, have 
ceased to exist, are some of the consecrated 
means of grace in the consummation of the 
world's salvation. 

A beloved man,^ a true minister in the 
service of Christ, assisted me in my profes- 
sional studies by his counsels and instruc- 
tions. He held a chosen place in my heart. 
It pleased the Almighty Disposer of all events 
to appoint that his work in the cause of his 
Master should cease while he was yet in 
the morning of life. He died at the age 
of twenty-six years. In a quiet interval of 
waiting for the summons of the death-mes- 
senger, he called a younger brother to his 

* John Emery Abbot was born in Exeter, N. H., on the 
sixth day of August, 1793. Ordained minister of the North 
Church in Salem, Mass., on the twentieth of April, 181 5. 
He died on the sixth of October, 1819. 

2 



lO 



bed-side, and having presented to him a 
Bible, with some words of affection, said 
to him, " I wish you, my dear brother, to 
see with what composure a Christian can 
die." This incident in such a life has not 
ceased, after a period of more than fifty 
years, to have a sacred effect upon my mind. 
The incident, in all the meaning it carries 
with it, in the affection it discovers, in the 
faith it exemplifies, in the deep impression 
it has made upon my heart, assures me of 
the truth, and confirms the sustaining power, 
of the doctrine of immortality. 

But, dear friends, we would not presume 
to doubt the wisdom of that decree which 
makes the time and manner of death un- 
known to us. The Giver and Preserver of 
life has mercifully concealed from our view 
the scenes of futurity. " Boast not thyself 
of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a 
day may bring forth." It is sufl[icient for us 



II 



to know that God, our Father and Friend, is 
the wise and righteous Author of life and 
of death. Let us, in the plenitude of our 
faith, and in the fulness of our hearts, say, 
" Thy will be done." 

Faithfully, friends of my heart, in the 
gratification of my affections, and in fulfil- 
ment of my office on this occasion, would I 
gather up and present to you my recollec- 
tions of the venerable man whose remains 
are before us in the vestments of the tomb. 
But I fear that my limited time and imper- 
fect health will interpose obstacles to a true 
and appropriate delineation of his character. 
Not for his sake, oh ! not for his sake would 
I speak, or do I speak; but for our sakes, 
beloved hearers, in the remembrance that 
we also are mortal, and that the grave now 
ready for these relics awaits the advent of 
each of our mortal bodies. 



12 



John Angier Shaw was a native of the 
South Parish of Bridgewater, now known 
by the corporate name of the originally ex- 
tended, but at present limited, township. He 
was born on the eighth day of October, 
1792, just eighty-one years ago to-day. In 
the direct line of his ancestors were men 
of a classical education who dedicated their 
powers and affections to sacred studies and 
duties in two of the precincts of ancient 
Bridgewater, and from these kindred he 
derived his name.''^ He loved, with a con- 
stant love, the home of his childhood, made 
venerable to him as having been the chosen 
seat of his worthy grandparents. He glo- 
ried, as well he might, in a residence in 

* The Rev. John Shaw, grandfather of John Angier Shaw, 
was graduated at Harvard College in 1729, and ordained in 
South Bridgewater, 17 November, 1731. He married Ruth, 
the daughter of Rev. Samuel Angier, of Watertown (Har. Col., 
1673), and sister of Rev. John Angier, of East Bridgewater 
(Har. Col., 1720). John died 29 April, 1791, aged 82. Ruth 
died 1768, aged 63. 



13 



the county of Plymouth, a name that brings 
with it the cherished association of the Pil- 
grim Fathers. The Pilgrim Fathers, the 
men who coveted, and nobly strove for, the 
boon of liberty, — though without a full 
understanding of its intrinsic value, — a 
liberty that should animate with a true life 
their own souls; a liberty which it is dif- 
ficult, because of the strong principle of 
selfishness that pervades human nature, to 
preserve in its purity and to transmit un- 
impaired to succeeding generations. The 
Pilgrim Fathers, brave men! whose self- 
sacriiicing deeds will maintain for them an 
honored memory in the minds and hearts 
of their posterity in all coming ages. I can- 
not but think that the love which our de- 
parted friend had for these fearless pioneers 
in the cause of freedom and of a popular 
nobility had an important effect in the for- 
mation of his own character. 



H 

Dr. Samuel Shaw/^ the father of him 
whose obsequies we observe, it was not my 
privilege to know. He died before the re- 
lation which I had the happiness to hold to 
the First Congregational Society in Bridge- 
water was instituted. He was an active 
member of the medical profession, and lived 
in the respect of those who received tokens 
of his friendly care and the benefit of his 
healing art. 

Mrs. Olive Leonard Shaw,f the mother 
of the deceased, was a friend of my early 
days in pastoral duty; and I loved to sit in 
the light of her countenance, and to receive 
from her the encouragement and counsel 
that age and wisdom imperceptibly impart 
to those who place themselves within their 
benign influences. I associate with my 

* Samuel, youngest son of Rev. John and Ruth Angier 
Shaw, born 1750, died 4 Dec, 18 19. 

t Olive, daughter of Zebulon Leonard, of Middleboro', born 
1755, died 3 Oct., 1837. 



15 

recollection of her the occurrence of the 
annual Autumnal Festival of Massachusetts, 
a day which invariabty found me in her 
presence, and that of her family, with my 
congratulatory greetings. At that early 
period, Thanksgiving Day was confined to 
the New England States, and I believe 
that to some of them it was not then, as 
it is now, known. I trust that the influence 
of the day, under the cognizance and by 
the appointment of the general government, 
will work for the unity and prosperity of 
the entire body of our American Republic. 

Mr. Shaw's preparatory education was 
obtained at the Bridgewater Academy. He 
was admitted to Harvard College in 1807, 
before he had quite reached the age of fif- 
teen years. In 181 1 he received the usual 
diploma. Of his class, which at their com- 
mencement numbered forty-nine, but nine, 
according to the Triennial Catalogue pub- 



i6 



lished in 1872, remain among the living. 
Of his classmates there were men of dis- 
tinguished reputation who honored offices 
in civil, literary, professional, and religious 
life, — men who in honoring their duties, not 
simply as duties, but as genial activities, 
honored themselves. In this connection, I 
am happy to say that Mr. Shaw had in rev- 
erent regard his Alma Mater. He loved 
to visit her halls on academic days ; and the 
greetings that he gave to and received from 
professional gentlemen and the alumni of 
the University showed, with delightful sig- 
nificance, the mutual interest that was felt 
in the power and progress of good learning. 
At Commencement of this 3^ear, his pres- 
ence was gratefully noticed by some — alas, 
how few! — of his contemporaries. 

After the period of his Baccalaureate 
course, Mr. Shaw remained in Cambridge 
under the auspices of the College, holding 



17 



the office of Regent. While a resident 
graduate, he pursued the study of divinity. 
There was not then, as now, a prescribed, 
systematic course of theological education. 
The gentlemen who were preparing for the 
sacred ministry sought and received the as- 
sistance and instruction of several of the 
professors whose course of research and 
way of thought were coincident with in- 
vestigations in the science of theology. By 
the help of lectures on Hebrew literature, 
and the laws of Biblical interpretation, to- 
gether with critical expositions of the origin, 
meaning, and design of Christianit}^, the be- 
ginning was made of a life all whose ener- 
gies and affections were to be dedicated, 
under God, to the cause of truth and right- 
eousness as instituted by Jesus Christ. 

Mr. Shaw, at the proper time, received 
from the local ecclesiastical association the 
usual approbation to preach, and soon after- 



i8 



ward, as a minister of the gospel and a 
school-teacher, performed the duties of both 
offices in Woodville, in the State of Missis- 
sippi. I have his authority for stating that 
in that part of the country, when he began 
professional life, it was thought that a min- 
ister, unless he could speak memoriter or ex- 
tempore, — that is to say, without the aid of a 
manuscript, — was not worthy of his vocation. 
To meet this popular opinion, and to satisfy 
the demand that it imposed, Mr. Shaw was 
prompted to write his sermons and then 
commit them to memory; for he had not, 
to a more than ordinary degree, the gift of a 
free and fluent elocution. This extra labor of 
preparing for his pulpit services, and the loss 
of time that it involved, which he thought 
was unreasonable, if not unjustifiable, induced 
him to resign altogether the duties of the 
sacred profession, and to devote himself to 
the employment of teaching the young. 



19 

It is in my way here to speak, as I think 
I confidently can, of the faith of him whose 
funeral rites we celebrate. His faith was a 
Christian faith, deriving its life and spirit 
from Jesus, the revealer of truth and the in- 
spirer of love. Jesus, as he apprehended him, 
was the Heaven-sent messenger of grace, and 
the true source of light to man as the child of 
God and the heir of immortality. The mis- 
sion of the Son of God, in his view, looked 
directly to the enlightenment, the elevation, 
the emancipation of the ignorant, the de- 
graded, the sinful in the world of humanity. 
He believed in " One God and Father of all, 
who is above all, and through all, and in us 
all." To this infinite and holy One, in humility 
and submission, he bowed his spirit in wor- 
ship. As he rendered worship to God, so he 
gave to the Son of God the homage of his 
gratitude, his obedience, and his love. How 
any, in the sense of indifierence or in the 



20 



mistaken sense of erudition, could virtually 
or gravely declare that they were outside of 
the pale of Christianity when they were 
nurtured within its sacred fold, was beyond 
his comprehension. As well might they 
say that they were outside of the care and 
influence of civilization when they were 
immediately basking in the sun of its pros- 
perity, and conscious — if submissive to the 
rule of their better thoughts — that civiliza- 
tion itself, in its life and conduct, is indebted 
to the grace and genius of Christianity. Our 
departed friend received the New Testa- 
ment, in its authenticity, as the revelation of 
the will of God in Christ. The institutions 
of the gospel, invested with a studied sense 
of their meaning, were honored by him with 
sentiments becoming a disciple of Christ and 
a lover of righteousness. He knew the 
worth and efficacy of prayer, and sought 
fervently for the healthful influences of the 



21 



Holy Spirit, happy in the belief that they 
who ask, under a deep feeling of their need, 
shall receive. 

Mr. Shaw had decided convictions with 
regard to the interpretation of divine truth, 
and was open and unreserved in the expres- 
sion of them, as private or public opportunity 
demanded or favored. Still, he was no par- 
tisan in religion, in the exclusive meaning 
of partisanship. Oh, no! He cared but 
little for the name, so that the essence was 
in being. " Words are the daughters of 
earth, and deeds are the sons of heaven." 
He could bow at any altar that had been 
consecrated to the word and work of Jesus, 
and could greet as a brother of mortality, 
and again of immortality, any one who 
breathed and lived in the atmosphere of a 
true life, a life baptized in the spirit of self- 
sacrifice, and of devotion to the labor of 
ameliorating the condition of humanity and 



22 



making it wiser, purer, better, and happier. 
He was not ostentatious. He was rather 
inclined to be humble and retiring from ob- 
servation. He occupied a place in society 
that will be vacant for a time, but which, in 
the providence of God, will eventually be 
filled. God permits no work to fail because 
of the want of efficient power. 

Mr. Shaw, both at a distance and at 
home, employed his abilities in the arduous 
and responsible task of teaching. For sev- 
eral years he was preceptor of the academy 
in his native town, and president of the 
board of trustees of that seminary. He was 
faithful to himself and to his charge. It was 
his highest ambition not only to teach with 
fidelity, but with success. It was his un- 
ceasing desire that his pupils, in consequence 
of his instruction, should be self-conscious 
of receiving some useful knowledge. The 
best systems of education, as they com- 



23 

mancled attention, were the objects of his 
study. And the best interests of learning, 
as they manifested themselves in all depart- 
ments of instruction, secular and religious, 
received his eager attention and his ready 
support. 

In connection with education, I call to 
mind that Mr. Shaw had a nice perception 
of the beauty of art in its relation to archi- 
tecture. The plan of the Episcopal Church 
in this town was the product of his pencil. 
And there is extant in Christ Church, in 
Cambridge, a picture drawn by him in his 
undergraduate days at college, giving a 
pleasing representation of the church edifice 
— noted for its symmetry — and the sur- 
roundings, as they appeared in the beginning 
of this century. 

In political life, our revered friend was 
active in thought and judicious in counsel. 
In the lower and higher departments of the 



24 



legislature of the Commonwealth, by general 
consent, his voice was worthy to be heard 
and his influence to be felt. In politics, he 
was honorable and disinterested. He re- 
garded the public welfare, and looked with 
caution upon special or private issues. The 
opinion that he held was his own, inde- 
pendent of any monition he might receive 
from party, or that party might be solici- 
tous to give. He was consequently a good 
citizen of an enlightened and liberal Re- 
public. 

In a moment, on the morning of the fourth 
day of the present month, he ceased to live; 
and the affections and hopes, that in their 
truth and purity adorn and brighten this 
earth, were withdrawn for ever. 

I have souo^ht to delineate the character 
of your friend and of my friend as it pre- 
sented itself to my observation. Nothing is 
to be gained by a departure from the truth. 



^5- 



It is the truth that Is to enlighten and reno- 
vate the world. 

It would be neither wise nor well here and 
now to speak words of consolation and of 
sympathy to those who, by this bereave- 
ment, have been widowed and made father- 
less. They know full well that the prayer 
of faith and of love in their behalf is offered 
to the widow's God and the Father of the 
fatherless, in obedience to that precept which 
enjoins that we should " bear one another's 
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.'^ 

And now, friend of my earlier days and of 
my later years, fare thee well ! I thank God 
that it was permitted me, not to speak thy 
praises, but of the worth of life as it was 
in thy heart to represent it. Thou hast 
gone before me to thine eternal home. Yet 
a little while longer, and the gates, that 
have been opened so unexpectedly to re- 
ceive thee, will be opened to receive me 



26 



to the home in which life will be uninter- 
rupted, and the life of God in the soul be 
for ever lived ! 

Friends ! fellow-travellers to the world 
beyond the grave! ye for whom the beloved 
Son of God lived, and for whom he died ! 
let this scene and this service have a pos- 
itive and present meaning to each one of 
you. They indeed have a meaning which, 
if understood by 3'ou, will elevate and 
hallow all your conceptions of life. They 
will teach you to sing, as the poet, with 
regenerating power, has sung: — 

" Life is real, life is earnest, 

And the grave is not its goal ; 

' Dust thou art, to dust returnest,' 

Was not spoken of the soul." 

If this language is tuned to notes of high 
aspiration, how much grander and more 
ennobling is the language of inspiration, 
" I am the resurrection and the life : he 



27 



that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth, and 
believeth in me, shall never die " ! 

Friends, may God bless you ! May God 
bless each one of you! May the Holy 
Spirit bless my word! Amen. 



APPENDIX. 



I. 

The Rev. Geo. Herbert Hosmer, the friend 
and pastor of Mr. Shaw, has recorded the fol- 
lowing testimony to his upright and useful life, 
in the "Christian Register" of the i8th of 
October, 1873: — 

In Bridgewater, 4th inst., Hon. John Angier Shaw, 
eighty-one years. 

'' Like as a shock of corn cometh in his season," so, 
full of glorious fruitage, our brother passes on to the 
deep, pure hfe of heaven. 

Sudden departures are sometimes glorious transla- 
tions. In the peace of the early morning, with bright 
waking thoughts in his mind, sweet words on his lips,- 
and the sunlight of earth breaking upon his eyes, he 
bowed his head, and suddenly the sunlight of heaven 
broke upon his vision, — no pain, no anxiety, scarcely 
a flutter of the spirit's wings was heard, — only serene, 
grateful peace. 



30 



Born in Bridgewater, Oct. S, 1792, he gave proof 
of his abihty and diligent apphcation by entering 
Harvard College at an unusually early age, and was 
graduated with honor in the class of iSii, remarkable 
for its men of eminent talents. He fitted for the 
ministry, and entered upon the work, but relinquished 
it after a brief period. He was called to the South, 
where he devoted himself to teaching ; and, after a 
few years' residence in Mississippi, returned to Bridge- 
water, and took charge of the academy for a period 
extending over sixteen years. 

He was called to serve this community in the differ- 
ent branches of the State Legislature, first as Senator 
for two years, then as Representative for four years, 
holding these offices with honor, and discharging their 
duties with conscientious fidelity. 

In the year 1841, under the recommendation of 
Horace Mann, he was called to New Orleans to or- 
ganize and superintend the public school system of 
that city, on which work he entered with great earnest- 
ness, and achieved an enviable success. To this day 
his services are gratefully remembered by the citizens 
of that place. After about ten years of labor in laying 
the foundation of a system of popular education at the 
South, he returned to Bridgewater, where he has re- 
sided the greater part of the time since, studiously 
devoting himself to labors for the good of his fellow- 
men. To the last he was occupied in his favorite work 
of teaching ; and, even as late as the day before his 



31 



death, was engaged with his evening class of young 
men. For the work of an educator he was eminently 
fitted, and, though faithful in all he undertook, in this 
sphere he will be most gratefully remembered. 

While a strongly pronounced conservative Unitarian, 
he was charitable in his spirit to all phases of Chris- 
tianity, and rejoiced in the hope of a spread of a wider 
unity of spirit, of which he was careful to note every 
cheering sign. He was a constant supporter of pub- 
lic worship, a just and discriminating listener, and a 
faithful follower of Jesus Christ. 

He retained his mental vigor to the last, and spent 
much of his time in the critical study of the New 
Testament, and in reading with interest the new books 
on the various phases of religious thought. 

He took great interest in the religious instruction of 
the young, laboring in the Sunday school with charac- 
teristic earnestness for many years. 

He stood among us a pillar of strength, remarkal^le 
for his honest frankness, purity of heart, and sincerity 
of spirit. In his sudden departure, this community 
and society lose their strongest mind, as well as a 
sincere, upright, pure-minded Christian gentleman. 



32 



II. 



The following memorial was published in the 
*' North Bridgewater Gazette," November 9, 
1^73 • J' E. Crane, Esq., a fellow-townsman 
of Mr. Shaw, is the author of it : — 

BRIDGEWATER. 

This community was surprised on Saturday morn- 
ing, the 4th inst, by the announcement of the death of 
Hon. John A. Shaw, which occurred at an early hour 
at his residence, of paralysis of the heart. Mr. Shaw 
was born in the house where he died, Oct. 8, 1792, 
and was but little short of eighty-one years of age. He 
was the son of Dr. Samuel Shaw, and grandson of 
Rev. John Shaw, the second pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church in Bridgewater. Early in youth 
he disclosed talents of a superior order, and was fitted 
for college, and entered Harvard with Edward Everett, 
Nathaniel Frothingham, John C. Gray, and Harrison 
Gray Otis, graduating in 181 1. In the choice of a 
profession his religious cast of mind led him to a theo- 
logical course, which was completed ; but he subse- 
quently relinquished it for the profession of teacher. 



?>?> 



He went to Mississippi, where his success gave him a 
high reputation ; and, after remaining there several 
years, was called to the preceptorship of the Bridge- 
water Academy in 1S25. His success here is too well 
known to require any extended notice, as his long con- 
nection with the academy as preceptor and president 
of the board of trustees formed a very important part 
of its history. His entire connection as preceptor, in 
point of time, was sixteen years, terminating in 1S41. 
For many years he was a member of the Board of 
Trustees, and at his death held the office of President 
of that body. As has been already stated, it was not 
here alone that he acquired celebrity as a teacher ; but 
at Andover, and in charge of the public schools in 
New Orleans, his success was alike manifest. His just 
measure of the importance of a liberal education was 
ever manifest, and his testimony always emphatic 
upon that point. His interest in public affairs was not 
circumscribed to the school-room, but his broad culture 
fitted him for other fields of usefulness. As early as 
1834, his election to the State Senate was evidence of 
the estimation in which he was held in this region ; 
and his subsequent election to that office in 1835, ^^^<^ 
also four elections to the House of Representatives by 
the citizens of this town, indicated his popularity as a 
legislator. In both branches of the legislature he was 
distinguished for his deep interest in the cause of 
popular education, and was also active in originating 
the measure for the reduction of the number of repre- 



34 



sentatives, which at that time had become burdensome 
and unwieldy. In all the walks of social life he was 
endeared to those with whom he was associated, as a 
man of great purity of heart, exerting a most beneficent 
influence upon all about him. Early in life he con- 
nected himself with the church of his fathers, and was 
a consistent example of the religion he professed. The 
long catalogue of those who were his pupils would 
show the names of many persons of eminence in the 
diflferent learned professions, and his memory will be 
long held by them as a public benefactor. This town, 
from which no allurements of station could estrange 
him, will hold him in grateful remembrance. The in- 
stitution of learning here, with which he was so closely 
connected, will most indelibly inscribe his name as 
chief among its friends, and cherish it as an important 
page in its history. Of an honored ancestry, he leaves 
a name alike honored. A widow, four daughters, and 
a son mourn the departure of one whose life was 
tenderly devoted to their welfare. The funeral ob- 
sequies were attended, on Wednesday afternoon, by a 
large number, at the church where, on the last Sab- 
bath of his life, Mr. Shaw was an attentive listener. 
Rev. Mr. Hosmer officiating:. 



35 



III. 

The annexed notice is transcribed from the 
" Liberal Christian," of New York, pubHshed 
25th October, 1873 : — 

JOHN ANGIER SHAW. 

It is fitting that a tribute of respect to the memory 
of this true and venerable man should find a place in 
the columns of the " Liberal Christian." He was a 
faithful member of that fellowship in the ecclesiastical 
world which hears reverently and receives implicitly 
the teachings of the Master as the Messiah, and with 
the whole heart welcomes the principles of freedom, 
fraternity, and benevolence. Wherever the gospel, 
in its simplicity and tenderness, in its beauty and 
power, was reflected, there his best affections found 
opportunity for exercise, and constant increase of 
strength. He sought continually that the spirit of 
his religion should be baptized with the water that 
comes from " a well springing up into everlasting 
life." 

Mr. Shaw was graduated at Harvard College in 



z^ 



iSii, before he had attained to the full age of nineteen. 
After receiving the honors of his Alma Mater, he con- 
tinued to reside in Cambridge, holding the office of 
Registrar in the government of the University, and at 
the same time, with such facilities as presented them- 
selves, pursuing the studies and meditations that lead 
to a preparation of the mind and heart for the work of 
the Christian ministry. In the process of time, having 
obtained the usual credentials, he went, by invitation, 
to the distant State of Mississippi, to exercise the 
pastoral office, and also to fulfil the duties of a school- 
teacher. He, however, soon found it incompatible 
with a proper regard for the health not only of mind, 
but also of body, to devote his strength and thoughts 
to both of these important vocations. There were also 
certain adventitious requirements in the public conduct 
of the sacred office, at that period and in that remote 
locality, that made the weekly preparation for the 
pulpit on the Lord's day irksome to him. Following 
the guidance of what he deemed an overruling Provi- 
dence, the interests of education commanded the entire 
exercise of his abilities. At New Orleans, in Louisi- 
ana, at the instance of a prominent educator of Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Mann), he filled for many years the 
office of superintendent of the schools in that great 
city ; and the influence of his theoretical and prac- 
tical instructions in the direction of mental and 
physical culture is felt and acknowledged even to 
this day. 



37 



In Andover and Bridgewater — towns of his native 
State — his fidehty as a teacher has been proved ; and, 
during an active life of guiding and disciplining gi-ow^- 
ing minds, he secured to himself the grateful reward 
of the love of many hearts, and now that his life is 
ended his memory will command the tribute of a 
wide-spread respect and honor. 

He who is the subject of our affectionate recollections 
was repeatedly honored with a seat in the Senate 
and House of Representatives of his beloved Com- 
monwealth. His views of government were broad 
and generous, and his interests in the causes of 
good learning and civil polity were coextensive with 
the efficiency of a liberal education and a true re- 
ligion. 

All the institutions of Christianity were ever held by 
him in reverential regard. The Sunday school had in 
him a warm friend and an energetic and useful super- 
intendent and teacher. The meetings of our Confer- 
ences, and in general the objects of the Unitarian 
Association, were cheered by his presence and sup- 
ported by his word. He honored life by honoring 
himself, his powers and opportunities, his aspirations 
and hopes. 

In the midst of life, while apparently in full health, 
the angel of death came to him, all unawares, with his 
summons to enter the spirit-land. On the morning of 
the 4th of this month, ere yet the sun had given evi- 
dence of his brightness, and while words of kindly 



38 



feeling were proceeding from the lips of the uncon- 
sciously expiring man, his heart, paralyzed, at once 
ceased from its pulsations, and the light of his earthly 
life was for ever extinguished. 

His funeral was attended with every expression of 
respect, on Wednesday, the 8th inst., that day being 
the eighty-first anniversary of his birth. The meeting- 
house of the First Congregational Society in Bridge- 
water, where, in health, he was a constant and devout 
worshipper, was filled with sympathizing friends. 
The services began with a dirge by the choir. An 
invocation was made, and select texts from the Scrip- 
tures were read by the present pastor of the society, 
Rev. Geo. Herbert Hosmer. A memorial address was 
delivered by Rev. R. M. Hodges, a former pastor, and 
an early and a late friend of the deceased. A concise 
and appropriate sermon, from Proverbs xii. 28, was 
preached by the stated minister ; and the funeral prayer 
was offered by Rev. George W. Hosmer, D.D. The 
exercises were varied with happy effect by hymns of 
consoling and quickening power. 

At the grave, in the beautiful cemetery of the town, 
the words of committal — "earth to earth" — were 
spoken, and the insignia of death and decay were for 
ever removed from mortal sight. 

Servant of God, well done ; 

Rest from thy loved employ : 
The battle fought, the victory won, 

Enter thy Master's joy. 



39 

Soldier of Christ, well done ; 

Praise be thy new employ ; 
And while eternal ages run, 

Rest in thy Saviour's joy. 



Cambridge, October 12, 1S73. 



R. M. H. 



40 



IV. 



For aid in collecting the following statistics, 
thanks are specially due to the Hon. Artemas 
Hale, the oldest ex-member of Congress, who 
still bears his accumulated years and abundant 
honors with grace and dignity. " Series in ccelo 
redeat" 

Mr. Shaw's educational and religious mission began 
in December, 1818. His journey to Mississippi, though 
relieved and cheered by the company of his sister 
(Mrs. Ames), was long and tedious. The facilities of 
travel and correspondence were not developed then as 
they are now. His interest in the profession of teach- 
ing, to which he now consecrated his life, prompted 
him to continue his work among the remote people 
who had at first called his attention and secured his 
affections in their behalf as a teacher. With the ex- 
ception of one or two intei-vals of recreation spent at 
his early home, and with his friends in Massachusetts, 
he remained abroad for a period of nearly twenty-six 
years. From 1825 to 1830, and again from 1832 to 
1841, he had charge of the Bridgewater Academy. 



41 



From 1841 to 185 1, with the reservation of short vaca- 
tions in the summer seasons, he was engaged at New 
Orleans in systematizing the school department of that 
city. Since his return from Louisiana, his residence 
has been for the most part in Bridgewater, and his 
occupation the familiar and favorite one of training 
and enlightening young minds. 

By the favor of his political friends in the county of 
Plymouth, he was, in 1835 and again in 1838, elected 
to a seat in the Senate of Massachusetts. In this high 
position his influence and learning in regard to educa- 
tional interests were felt and acknowledged. In token 
of the confidence of his fellow-townsmen in his in- 
tegrity and honor, he was chosen, for three years, — 
from 1839 ^^ ^^41, inclusive, — to represent them in 
the popular branch of the legislature. His fidelity to 
the trust was marked by the generous and enlightened 
spirit of philanthropy. 



42 



FAMILY REGISTER. 

John A. Shaw, on the 29th March, 1S21, was mar- 
ried, in Woodville, Miss., to Sarah Hart (Rogers) 
White. The children of this marriage were OHve 
Rosalie and Margaret Maria. Olive (Mrs. David 
Perkins) is living, a widow, in charge of a family. 
Margaret died April loth, 1S6S, at the age of forty- 
four years. Mrs. Sarah H. Shaw died in Mississippi, 
Sth of May, 1824. 

Mr. Shaw's second marriage was to Mira (Sprague) 
Washburn, on the 17th of October, 1830. There were 
six children by this marriage, four of whom are living, 
— three daughters and one son, — two daughters in 
matrimony. A daughter and a son died in infancy. 
Mrs. Shaw still resides in the honored homestead. 



43 



VI. 

Mr. Shaw, not infrequently, through the pub- 
lic press, uttered his best thoughts on subjects of 
immediate interest in social, literary, and religious 
life. His pubhshed discourses are : — 

Eulogy on John Adams and Thomas Jefiferson, delivered 
August 2, 1826, by request of the Inhabitants of 
Bridgewater. 

An Address delivered before the Bridgewater Society for 
the Promotion of Temperance, February 22, 1828. 

An Oration dehvered before the Citizens of Plymouth, July 
4, 1828, "On the Permanency of the Political Sys- 
tem of America." 

An Address delivered before the Public Schools of the 
city of New Orleans, February 22, 1850. 



44 



VII. 



The following paragraph from the '* Eulogy " 
has a meaning of permanent value : — 

Hail, happy period ! when civil liberty, joined with 
Christian faith, shall emancipate the world from the 
fetters of despotism and the galhng chains of sin. 
Freedom must rest on the basis of public information 
and public virtue. This proposition, though often 
repeated, is no oftener advanced than its obvious 
importance requires. And what so efficacious as the 
sanctions of eternal trutli, as that light from above, 
which gilds alike the lowly roof and vaulted dome, to 
animate, to cheer, to purify, and guide us in the way 
of virtue, peace, and equal rights? The politician 
may rear his well-proportioned fabric ; but unless the 
light of Christianity be there, unless its purifying spirit 
shed around its holy power, degeneracy and corrup- 
tion will sap the foundation. Not that it interferes 
with forms of government, for its kingdom is not of 
this world. Its powerful influence is a moral influence. 
It designs no reforms but those of personal character. 
It exalts a people only by its power on the hearts of 



45 



those who compose it. In proportion as pure Chris- 
tianity prevails, — I mean the religion taught by Christ, 
— in proportion as divine philosophy prevails, man 
will respect the rights of his brother man, and be ready 
to obey the easy rule of liberty and love. The Chris- 
tian raises in his mind no structure of the future hap- 
piness and glory of the world, without resting it on 
the firm and broad foundation of gospel truth. He 
who is the servant of sin cannot be the Lord's free- 
man, and he is as little qualified to be a good citizen 
of a free republic. A corrupt community must ere 
long be an enslaved community. 



Cambridge : Press of John Wilson and Son . 



